How to Shop Smarter with Samsung TecTiles

If we here at Samsung Tomorrow had to rank some of our favorite things, of course technology would be at the top of the list. But what’s next? Many of us ranked “fashion” or “shopping” highly, so it was super-cool to find out about what our colleagues over at Samsung Electronics Netherlands are doing.

They have partnered with a local fashion retailer in order to innovatively introduce a new technology to the target audience of hip and trendy shoppers. Members of this retail dream team are Samsung Netherlands, retailer “Jeans Online” and creative agency “SALES window.” Together, their collective goal is to introduce “smart shopping” through the use of Samsung’s TecTiles, as well as the Near Field Communication (NFC) functions of Samsung smartphones.

NFC is a contactless data communication between a small chip and a smartphone. Samsung TecTiles are small stickers that contain reusable NFC chips that can be programmed by users so your smartphone can do all sorts of wonderful and useful things automatically. But, as our team in the Netherlands shows, TecTiles can also be used for innovative retail marketing.

All users who own a Samsung smartphone with NFC (GALAXY S III and GALAXY Note II) had access to exclusive deals at Jeans Online, the biggest online jeans store in The Netherlands with pop-up stores selling the most fashionable and exclusive brands such as Levi’s, Replay, Nudie Jeans, Hilfiger Denim and Diesel.

How did the promotion work? Simple. Kalverstraat – the most popular shopping street in the capital city Amsterdam – is always bustling with activity. For the promotion, Creative Agency “SALES window” designed the Samsung TecTile sticker, which was affixed to the Jeans Online store window. All shoppers had to do was scan the TecTile and they would receive a digital voucher available for immediate use. With this voucher, the customer could receive a second item for free! And the deals didn’t even stop there. The customer could also win a voucher of € 100 by logging into Facebook using the TecTiles NFC chips in the store to upload a picture of their purchase. So, shopping + social media = big savings? Sounds like a great equation to us!

The promotion proved to be very successful. Not only did the awareness for NFC and Samsung TecTiles rise among the public, but our retail partner, Jeans Online, had a rise of 14% in its store traffic and a rise of 9% in its sales during this super promotion! Thus, everybody won: customers went home with an extra item, our retail partner was happy with the increase in its store traffic and turnover and we got the satisfaction of making everybody happy while raising awareness for our NFC smartphones and for Samsung TecTile. Win + Win = Win!